Do you clean the flash hole in your brass?

Can you use a small drill to give the flash hole a more uniformed hole? Would it be wise to make the flash hole slightly bigger?

http://www.lymanproducts.com/lyman/case-prep/flash-hole-uniformer.php

That's what I use on non-euro brass. It uniforms the inside of the case removing any burrs from the flash-hole punch without changing the hole size, which you don't want to do.
I also use it to push out any kernels after tumbling.
Euro brass is drilled I believe, so no flash-hole burrs.

I say never make the flash hole any larger, but keep it cleaned out. Making it larger can have dangerous affects on pressure.

Good advice. Know a guy who decided that if he enlarged the flash hole a little he would get better ignition. Which he did.
2nd shot froze the bolt so hard the bolt handle broke off trying to tap it open.
Had to take it to the smith and found out it bulged the barrel and action. Rifle was toast, but he kept all of his body parts.

I use a Uniformer on all of my brass, just enough to remove the burr left behind from the punch. No drilling here, figured that out when I increased the size of the flash hole in a muzzleloader nipple, first 2 shots blew the hammer back to a cocked position.

I am in agreement with the others.
I use a small drill bit and 'run it though' the flash-hole.
It does not make the hole larger,,,,just cleans it out and make it a uniform circle.

+1

K&M makes a nice product for this as well.

So long as the flash hole is there, I tend to ignore cleaning them up like I used to do along with a whole slue of other case prepping, like weighing brass, reaming primer pocket depths, turning necks etc etc. I just found that now that I am using Laupa and Norma/Nosler brass, these "extra" steps are mostly just time consuming. The three brass choices I mentioned seem to be so consistant, that I've found them to be mostly useless for hunting reloads.

I use a flash hole deburring tool for everything unless it's Lapua or Norma, I don't touch them.

I'm still anal enough that I usually clean primer pockets, but the only cleaning the flash hole gets is the small Allen wrench that gets poked in it to make sure the media from my vibratory cleaner is not plugging it.

No reason to touch them as they are drilled and not punched, no burr left with the drilling process like a punched flash hole.

If you leave your decaping pin in your sizing die, it will take care of that for you when you size and save yourself that step of poking with the Allen key.

Proof, everyone has their own way of doing things...

Some people use the vibratory cleaner after sizing to remove lube.

Then you need to check to make sure that any media is not stuck in flash hole after you remove from tumbler. I use the Lyman flash hole tool to put the bevel cone shape inside the case. I feel it gives a more uniform ignition powder burn. Just my two cents worth.

I never run a drill bit through the flash hole. There is usually a small burr inside the case that I never worried about for years. Then all the talk of needing to remove it got me to try it. I made a de-burr tool with a drill bit and a 1" dowel, works great, didn't do a think to improve accuracy that I could measure. Of course I don't measure my group's to a thousandth of an inch either. I think time is better spent practicing with a one or even one and a half inch rifle than trying to get a quarter inch rifle to shoot a thousandth smaller group with a hunting rifle!

I uniform all my primer pockets inside the new cases if they have been punched. Norma and Lapua brass are drilled so i don't bother. I never re-prime a case without cleaning the fired primer pockets first.

^^^^^^^
This

I quit all primer-pocket cleaning, flash-hole deburring, etc. etc. many years ago, after testing its effects in a very accurate .223 that averaged 1/4" 5-shot groups at 100 yards. The only factor I found that made any difference was sorting or turning case necks for uniform thickness.

But a lot of handloaders like to dink with stuff, and apparently it keeps them happy.

Mule Deer,



Did you ever try squaring the heads?

Exactly. That is my method for what it's worth.

I'm one of those handloaders who likes to dink with stuff. I have found a repeatable process that works for me and gives me peace of mind. I like to manage the variables that I can manage.

And why not?

For most shooters handloading is a hobby, and one of the points of any hobby is spending time on minutiae, because it takes us away from the problems of the "real" world. Which amounts to peace of mind.

I started reloading at age 12, as a means by which to feed my 219 Zipper, 250-3000, and 7x57. There wasn't any factory ammo being loaded for the Zipper and the factory ammo for the 250-3000 and 7x57 didn't meet my expectations.

Also, since I semi-retired at age 44, I needed (still need) something to keep my mind in the game and putting together rifles and accurate loads for them is a pretty harmless pastime. I tried cars and when compared to firearms and reloading, cars are a much more expensive hobby.

I am a firm believer in the old saying that Proper Prior Preparation Promotes Positive Professional Performance.

I don't mess with flash holes nor clean primer pockets as a rule but finally found a reason to clean the pockets. These .243 AI cases have been fired 21 times and the crud has built up to the point that primers will no longer seat flush.

Guess I'll have to go find the old Lee primer pocket cleaner...

A hobby it is. But in the quest for low ES I put a 0.010" chamfer on the inside of the flash hole.........makes me feel good!